Now this is something I didn't know!! A friend in Sweden told me that this is how Mother's Day came about and I thought I'd share it with you all. Most Sundays in the year churchgoers would worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church". In olden times it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church at least once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church. As the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away from home returned. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home to work in service from ten years of age.) The majority of historians think that it was this return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family. This special day has now become a time when people give thanks to their mothers and offers an opportunity to express both love and thanks for the work that they do.
That's very interesting Eileen. I wonder why it is then that Canada celebrates Mothers Day in May? I think I'll "google" that!
Here is what I found: There are conflicting accounts of the history of Mother's Day. One account says the first known Mother's Day took place on the second Sunday in May in Albion, Michigan. Juliet Calhoun Blakeley initiated the holiday. Two days before her fifty-ninth birthday, three young men were found drunk in the streets of Albion. One of them was the pastor's son. On Sunday May 11, Juliet's birthday, the pastor was so upset that he had to leave the service before it was over. Juliet, who was seated nearby, took the pulpit and asked other mothers to join her. Juliet's sons who were traveling salesmen were so moved by their mother's gesture that they returned every year to pay tribute to her. They urged others to honor their mothers on the same date. Because of the brother's actions, the Methodist Episcopal Church set aside the second Sunday in May to honor all mothers. Most sources give the credit for Mother's Day to Anna M. Jarvis. It is generally agreed that the first Mother's Day celebration took place in 1907, in a tiny church in West Virginia when Anna Jarvis arranged a special service to pay tribute to her mother. It was seven years later that President Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday.
I wonder if other countries celebrate Mothers' Day and if they, too, have stories about how if first started. I'd be really interested to read them.
